All Forum Posts by: Brad Braun

Jay, do you mind sharing who your lender is in Charleston, I have quite a few folks I can refer to them.

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Scott Schultz:

 A lot of small local banks play in what you are looking for, you need to talk to the commercial lenders, Check out Peoples State Bank, based in Wausau, they have a Branch in Milwaukee dedicated to Commercial Lending.  you will probably start out with 3 year term, but that can get longer with comfort, they need to see your track record, and build a relationship.  I am not sure how they will see you using "Investors money" on the front side, I self finance my deals with lines of credit,  that outside money may look risky to many lenders as they want to see you having skin in the game.   my typical Borrow from Peoples is $30-50K 

Scott says OP is from Texas I wonder if the local bankers there in WI will lend to some one who lives out of the footprint. 

I find that it can be pretty tough to do.. local commercial banks in my experience cater to locals.. its in their charters.. so your the prime borrower.. someone buying low end higher risk rentals that does not live there.. the banks I am sure will look at this as high risk and pass.  I know it took me 3 years to finally land a bank in Charleston to lending me loans for spec building.  but once I got to 30 homes built and sold I finally got them to go.. and to my knowledge I am the only out of market borrower they have..  

In my market, homes typically sell for 98-100% of asking price, typically with 5-10 multiple offers.  You'd never get one for 65% of market value.  We call those "unicorns". Each market is different, I'd love to be in a buyer's market that was so downtrodden that I could offer 65% of a homes asking price, but in a strong seller's market, that doesn't exist.

As with all things real estate, every market is different.  Do your homework.  A neighborhood right next to another neighborhood could cash flow at 3x times the rate.  This is no different in N. Charleston as it is in Downtown Charleston.  We have several properties in neighborhoods that folks typically ignore due to their location/reputation.  We did the homework and found they would have good cash flow and made a move to acquire them.  We've also invested in "good rental" neighborhoods and lost money on the investment.  So do you homework, find ones that you like, and go with your gut.

My favorite way is to take traveller's checks.  Have my tenants convert them to Yin and then to Pesos.  Then deliver them in the old school money bags with the dollars signs stamped into the side.  :)

Any time they pay rent on time is a win for me regardless of how they pay honestly.

We are in one of the hottest markets in the US. Anything under 250k will typically have 10+ competing offers in the first day of the listing. This doesnt deter me from offering what the home is worth or at least advising the potential buyer of what its worth. We always go in to win, we typically use an escalation clause when offering, but not always. Theres been many times Ive lost bids to competition. What I WONT do is advise my clients to over bid what the home is worth with the hope it wont appraise. Thats a cheap tactic that is flying around town on competitive listings. Of course I'll offer what they tell me to offer, but Id never advise soneone overpay for a home unless they are set on winning it at all costs.

Originally posted by @Mark S.:

@Brad Braun Not sure how things are in your market but here in Minnesota a full price cash offer often does not get you the deal. I have made many of those over the past two years that were not accepted because of multiple offers.

@Brian Zaug Firstly, I would have given the seller about 4 hours to decide on my list price offer. Once they contacted me with a "best and highest" I would have added an addendum that states my client will pay $100 over the best and highest offer up to 1% over asking.. Something like that. To me its really crappy that you position yourself to win a home and the seller wants to keep shopping. Unfortunately, its part of the game. The seller is risking a full price offer walking away from the offer hoping to make an extra 1k or two.

In my opinion, Goose Creek, Ladson, and North Charleston have the best SF and MF opportunities for rental cash flow. My personal favorites are near the traffic corridors, places like Summerville Place, off of Miles Jameson road, which is just off of Ladson road. For rental rehabs I like Park Circle, Hanahan, and 29407 West Ashley. Charleston is so short on inventory, you can add a rental property from just about anywhere and it will stay occupied. Pick a popular school district, and research homes in that district and you'll be fine.

Best to keep in listed 100% of the people who don't see you listed won't rent your property.  Since you're in a good position financially, just be picky.  Don't settle for sub-par tenants.  In my opinion, I'd always keep it listed.  Perhaps re-look at current market conditions and make sure you're priced competitively along with the amenities and style that your competition is offering.  Make sure you're marketable and you will find a good renter soon enough!

As long as you have a good credit history, you don't even have to be employed yet.  You can have a job offer letter starting within 30 days and still possibly get a loan.  It comes down to credit history.  The best advice to give you is call a mortgage co and have them qualify you.  If your credit is fine, and you just started a job, you can still qualify for a mortgage.  It always has to make sense to the banks, but new job  out of college is ok.